100 Days | Walking Te Araroa paperback and ebook
100 Days | Walking Te Araroa answers the fundamental question: Why is a long break away from Civilisation, allowing the re-calibration of Life, important to long term well being?
Oh, it is also a day to day account of a true New Zealand backcountry tramping Little Adventure.
During the summer of 2014–15 GJ Coop spent 100, err, 101 days walking the 1300 km length of the South Island of New Zealand, the world’s 12th biggest island. As a pre-ramble the first 16 days were spent on Stewart Island/Rakiura, attempting to get as far south as is sensibly possible in New Zealand. Like beyond 47º S.
Sensibly, hunh?
If it’s so sensible, why was he the only one doing it?
Yup, a great Little Adventure. Here’s what happened …
100 Days | Walking Te Araroa is available from Amazon as a paperback.
Or, download 100 Days | Walking Te Araroa from the Amazon Kindle Store. Or click on the image.
Length: 105,000 words — equivalent to a 298 page paperback, ie, it’s big
File size: 4085 KB
File format: .mobi — read in the Kindle app
Cost: $US4.99
Here’s an extract:
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
Yahoo!!
I let out a scream, spontaneously, thinking I’d sound like Tarzan, I guess, but with a dry throat my voice cut out unexpectedly. Fortunately, there was no one within 20 km of me, perhaps. I didn’t try again, but I did feel exuberant.
I had traded possessions for experiences, security for freedom.
This was the payoff.
There it was. Hugeness, remoteness, wilderness all rolled into one.
Up there I could sense my own remarkable insignificance, one small individual humbled by the unfathomable sparseness in front of me.
At this moment I had everything I needed, my pack lay on the ground with my physical essentials, my mind’s relentless wandering for once still and at peace.
We surround ourselves with people, possessions, activities to avoid this confrontation with ourselves in our routine lives. Here I was: stripped, alone, and strong. This was one of the most significant moments in my lifetime. The present was right in front of my eyes, no need to dwell on the past, or contemplate the future. Everything important was just in front of my eyes, all new, not able to be grasped in its entirety, that was enough, if not too much. All senses operational without the need for thought or processing.
It was awesome, as in the archaic sense, filling you with awe, not in the current, diluted meaning — yeah, pretty good.
I felt a surge of life. Pure exhilaration.
